Jack West Jr
Jonathan 'Jack' West Jr., also known as Huntsman, is a former Australian SAS soldier with a knack for solving ancient puzzles and traps. Jack is also the leader of the Coalition of Minnows team. He is the main protagonist of the Huntsman series. History Early History Jack was born to an American father, Jonathon "Wolf" West Sr, and an Australian mother, Mabel West, in 1969. He had an older sister named Lauren, who eventually married Jack's friend, JJ Wickham. Despite wanting to study at University, he followed his father's desire for him to join the military, but to spite him joined the Australian Army. During his time in the SAS Regiment, Jack set a new record on a desert survival course, lasting 44 days. Soon Jack was given the call-sign Huntsman. Eventually Jack expressed his dislike of being turned into a killing machine, so in 1989, his superiors decided to satisfy his desire to learn by sending him to study archaeology and history under Max Epper at Trinity College in Dublin. During his time there, he met Zoe Kissane, with whom he formed a close friendship. Soon after returning to the Army, Jack was sent to participate in the 1990 Coronado special forces exercises, being tutored by Colonel Marshall Judah. During the time he spent there, Jack was injured in a helicopter accident, and was left unconscious for four days, during which Judah had him inplanted with a tracking chip in his head. Judah's brutish treatment of a falcon named Horus displeased Jack, so when he left Coronado, he stole her, and Horus became loyal to Jack for his kindness and loving treatment. In 1991, Jack was one of the first soldiers on the ground during Desert Storm, and soon came under Judah's command. During this period, he worked alongside Cal Kallis - whom Jack would write a report on citing his psycotic behaviour - and also met the Israeli soldier Ben Cohen. He was left for dead by Judah's forces at Basra, but managed to escape in one of Saddam Hussein's 747 planes named the Halicarnassus, and kept it for himself. Following his return home, Jack decided he was going to quit the Army, and one of his superiors decided to assign him to Epper's Capstone quest in order to keep him around for a while longer. Jack West Jr and the Hero's Helmet On Christmas Eve, 1994, Jack and Epper followed up on Jack's own theory regarding the Temple of Dendur. He and Epper received permission from New York's Metropolitan Museum to examine the Temple, so that Jack might confirm that within one of the bricks of the Temple was the Knife of Osiris. Even as they confirmed its presence with a Ground Penetrating Radar, a fire alarm went off, forcing Jack and Epper to evacuate as a squad of firemen entered the museum. Hearing a nearby boy noted that though their firetruck was not the real number 17 firetruck, Jack became suspicious, so sent Epper back inside the museum. Epper then called Jack to confirm the worst; the brick containing the Knife of Osiris had been taken. Jack immediately jumped onto the firetruck of the false firemen as they sped away from the museum, and began fighting with one of the impostors. During the fight, Jack noticed that the man had a tattoo on his wrist identifying him as a member of Opus Dei, and while confused by their interest in the Knife, Jack was forced to throw the man off the firetruck, inadvertently keeping a hold of his helmet. With the rest of the impostor firemen unaware of his presence, Jack was brough to the St. Patrick's Cathedral, and began following the men to an adjoining alley. However a man in a trench coat that Jack had seen watching them at the museum earlier killed the false firemen, telling their leader that the Knife belonged to his master, and that it was not yet time to use the keyblade. Jack recognised that this mysterious man was an assassin, but without any weapons, knew he could not take on this man, and so reluctantly watched as the Trench Coat Man departed with the Knife. Following this, Jack decided to keep the fireman's helmet for himself, to use as a constant reminder that not everyone is who they appear to be. Before Seven Ancient Wonders Jack and Epper located several hidden scrolls that were saved from the Alexandria Library fire, and discovered, among other things, the Callimachus Text, which would lead them to the locations of the Ancient Wonders and the Capstone Pieces with them. Seeking to locate the Oracle of Siwa to translate the Word of Thoth to help in their quest, they found his pregant wife Malena, and Jack promised to keep her safe. However the next day, a European force led by Francisco del Piero, kidnapped her and took her to a volcano in Uganda. He and Epper tracked them down, but arrived too late to stop del Piero from taking Malena's child. Even as lava began pouring in, Jack insisted on taking Malena's now-dead body, and discovered that a second child was still inside. He and Epper retrieved the infant, a girl, and attempted to escape, only to be blocked by the lava. Seeing no other way to escape, Jack plunged his left arm into a waterfall of lava to pull a release lever, and Epper promised to build him a new one stronger than his old arm. At a meeting of nations to discuss challenging the European coalition and the Americans to retrieving the Capstone, Jack stood alone as the representative of Australia, having already gotten his nation's approval. Once a representative was chosen from each country to join their team, Jack told Sheik Abbas that he had named the girl Lily, and led the team to the farm in Kenya. Soon after the mission began, JJ Wickham, who after Lauren's death in an airliner crash remained close friends with Jack, became a fugitive from the U.S. for disobeying an order and stealing a submarine intended for destabilising missions in Africa. Jack and the team provided Wickham, going by the nickname Sea Ranger, with a place to stay for a while. After a few years, Epper fulfilled his promise to build Jack a new arm, and intergrated a mechanical arm onto his elbow. When Ben Cohen arrived unexpectedly to request to join their team or risk the Mossad exposing them, Jack's prior experience with the Israeli was the only thing that made him agree. As they raised Lily, Jack seemed to have no interest in her, but in fact he truly cared for her, but was busy continuing to research and practise beating ancient traps with Horus. On one occassion, after comparing Lily's progress with other members of the team, Jack took Lily to Cape Town to watch a ballet show, though he kept his eye on her for most of the show. Soon, he told Lily that once the mission was over, he would likely have to go into hiding, but offered her a riddle that would lead her to him. Eventually, Lily gave Jack a new nickname, Woodsman, although the team continued to refer to him as Huntsman instead of using Lily's nickname for him as they did with the ones she gave them. When Lily turned ten, she managed to decipher the first part of the Callimachus Text, and Jack led the team to the Sudan. Seven Ancient Wonders With the Europeans already present at the ancient mine, Jack led his team through the second entrance, hurriedly beating the traps in order to try and get in and out before Judah's CIEF forces arrived. After arriving at the Grand Cavern, Jack led Lily up to the Innermost Cave while the rest of the team held off the Europeans, and allowed himself to get stuck in the oil trap while Lily picked out the right pendant as the Capstone piece from the Colossus of Rhodes' head. After she did so, Jack and the team fled back the way they came, however after reaching the entrance, the waiting Noddy was killed by Kallis's men. After Jack's attempt to reason with Kallis failed, they were forced to hand over the Piece, and when he announced the team's execution, save for Jack since Judah wanted to speak with him, Jack and his team managed to flee their captors and escape on the Halicarnassus. Jack was concerned about the Americans' pressence since they didn't have a copy of the Callimachus Text or a translator, but comforted Lily as she cried over Noddy's death. When Lily translated the second part of the Text, Jack and Epper excitedly realised that they actually had a chance since the text itself didn't reveal the Piece's location, but rather one of the scrolls they had obtained years earlier. After locating Hamilcar's Refuge on the Tunisia coast, the team was alerted to the arrival of an American team, which astounded Jack since they had no way of locating the Refuge. After racing Kallis and Judah's teams through the trap systems to the Refuge, Jack, Zoe and Lily alone made it to the Piece, where they also found the Mausoleum's Pillar Piece with the Pharos Piece, however Judah's team was right behind them so they were forced to leave them behind. Rather than leave empty-handed, Jack took a notebook from a long-dead Nazi archaelogist, and pursued Judah's drilling vehicle carrying the heavy Capstone Pieces, photographing the inscriptions for Lily to translate later. While the rest of the team escaped together, Jack was forced to commandeer an old U-Boat and pilot it to an island resort in the Mediterranean where the team collected him. Jack then shared his suspicion with Epper that someone on their team was letting the Americans' know of their progress, but neither could determine who the mole might be. Adding to their problems, the entries of the next two Pieces offered no clues to their locations, so Jack reluctantly suggested to his team that they bring in an expert on the Capstone, Mustapha Zaeed, to help. Infiltrating Guantanamo Bay with his Gull Wings while the others made a diversion, Jack retrieved the terrorist and helped him escape back to the Halicarnassus. Fortunately, with Zaeed's assistance, the team were able to determine the locations of the next two Pieces. While Epper led Zoe and Fuzzy to Rome, Jack led the remainder of the team as they broke into the Louvre and stole the Zeus Peice, before Jack scaled the Paris-located obelisk so that they could note its secret compartments to help them locate Alezander the Great's Tomb later. After escaping from the French authorities, Jack's team returned to Victoria Station, pleased they they had finally obtained a Piece of the Capstone. However as they began disembarking the Halicarnassus, Dorris gave Lily a cryptic warning about Judah and his men being present, and after Big Ears sacrificed himself to get Lily back on the plane, the team managed to escape. Adding to their troubles, Judah contacted them to gloat about retrieving the Zeus Piece from Big Ears' body, Dorris' death, and revealed that Epper's team had been captured by the Europeans. Rather than give up, Jack decided that they had to locate the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and retrieve it's Piece. While they managed to locate it, they were once again pursued by Judah's arriving forces, and adding to their troubles was the arrival of Stretch's superior Avenger, revealing that Stretch had (unknowingly) given their location away, and were planning to use the Piece to bargain with the Americans. While being forced to escort the Israeli's through the Garden's traps, Jack almost gave up in the Well of the Winged Lion trap, until he heard Lily call him "Daddy", giving him the focus he needed to escape the trap. After retrieving the Piece for Avenger, he and Pooh Bear were left hanging from the ceiling. They only managed to escape when Jack swung them onto the giant stalactite using an American chopper, but were too late to intercept Avenger's team as they escaped. Before he fled, Zaeed taunted Jack with the fact that Epper had neglected to tell him that to ensure the ceremony that prevented the Tartarus sunspot worked, Lily's life would need to be sacrificed. Barely escaping the Gardens as the Americans destroyed them, Jack and Pooh Bear returned to the Halicarnassus, where Jack realised the truth about the mole in their team; finding a tracking implant in his skull, which ever since his accident training with the CIEF had been supplying them with his location. After disabling it, Jack, Pooh Bear and Sky Monster began preparing to attack the Americans as they performed the ceremony on top of the Great Pyramid in Giza. As Pooh Bear and Sky Monster attacked the Americans in the Halicarnassus, Jack used his Gullwings to land on the Pyramid's platform, and was quickly able to take out many CIEF operatives before resorting to hand-to-hand combat with Kallis. As Judah's completion of the ceremony failed due to Alexander escaping the Capstone, Jack finally managed to finish Kallis off. As Judah held him at gunpoint, mocking Jack for never having a chance, Jack called for Horus, who gouged out her old master's eye. However as this was happening, Zaeed used Lily to perform the ceremony, apparently giving 1000 years of power to Saudi Arabia. Fortunately, Jack revealed that he had swapped Zaeed's sand with his own homeland's, giving the power to Australia, and proceeded to kill Zaeed. Confronting Judah, Jack noted that he could forgive his former commander for all the wrongs done to him, but because of his execution of Dorris, he threw Judah's safety line into the Halicarnassus' engine. Jack then went to the Capstone and cried over Lily's apparent death during the ceremony, only for her to awaken, revealing that her willingess to be used had allowed her to live. In the aftermath, Jack and his team reunited left, with Jack assuring Epper that Australia wouldn't misuse their power. Jack then went out on his own, taking the Capstone with him, and officially retired from the Australian SAS, settling down on a farm in the Great-Sandy Desert which his superiors had given him for the mission's success. Lily was soon able to solve the riddle Jack had given her, and he reunited with the team on the farm, revealing his hiding place for the Capstone in an old nickel mine, and giving Zoe a White Desert Rose he had taken from the Hanging Gardens. Between Seven Ancient Wonders and The Six Sacred Stones Over the next few months, while the rest of his team returned to their normal duties, Jack officially adopted Lily as his own daughter, sending her to a boarding school in Perth for the school-year to help her acclimate to a normal life. However whenever to travelled to get her, he always used different routes to prevent anyone from trying to follow him back to the farm. During the first parent-teacher interviews, Jack met Lily's new best friend Alby Calvin and his mother Lois. Jack was pleased that Lily was doing well, but was displeased with the sports-master Todd Naismith's low opinion of her and Alby, showing off his surprising strength (from his artificial arm) to surprise Naismith and warned him not to be too hard on the kids. During these times, Jack would help Epper with research, and he would occasionally accompany Lily to visit the members of the team in their respective homelands. At one point, Lily asked Jack about his family, to which he answered some of her questions regarding his father and sister, and soon took her to meet his mother. Sometimes Jack would need to check in with his old superiors, being given intelligence briefings regarding potential threats to Australia. On one occasion, a general visited Jack at his farm to ask questions regarding Sea Ranger, though Jack claimed to have not seen him since he went rogue. Another time, Jack went to the Pine Gap facility with Lily, and was debriefed regarding the potential threats of the Vatican Cardinal Ricardo Mendoza and a mysterious Russian General known as Carnivore. Whenever Zoe came to visit the farm (as the other team members did occasionally), Lily noticed the budding romance between her and Jack. While nothing is implied to have occurred between them during this period, Jack shared with Epper his plan to propose to Zoe, but he lost his nerve when she had to return to Ireland at the time he was going to propose. Jack and Lily spent Christmas of 2006 in Dubai with Pooh Bear and the other team members at the Burj al Arab tower, and stayed for the New Year's party. During the party, Jack caught up with Solomon Kol, who had taken to looking after Victoria Station since the mission's completion, and briefly chatted with Sea Ranger before he had to move on. In August 2007, Jack became concerned when he read an article about an Australian soldier recently dying; since no Australian soldier had died since the Tartarus ceremony, it meant that someone had somehow nullified the 1000 years of power granted to Australia. Sometime before the summer holidays of 2007 began, Jack agreed to allow Alby to stay with him and Lily at the farm while his parents went on a holiday. The Six Sacred Stones Early on the first of December, Jack recieved an encrypted message from Epper, warning him that enemies were coming for him, and that there was a new, more dangerous threat on the horizon. Noticing that a Chinese parachute regiment that was a part of a nearby wargames preparing to land on his farm, Jack warned Lily, Alby, Zoe and Sky Monster that they had to leave. After retrieving the upper-most part of the Capstone, the Firestone, per Epper's request, Jack fled with the others to the Halicarnassus. Following a chase across the farm, during which Jack set off traps against their pursuers, they eventually escaped and began making their way to the Burj al Arab, where Epper had also requested that the team rendezvous. Along the way, Jack read Epper's sent notes, learning that a zero-point energy field out in space, a polar opposite to the sun, was set to soon wipe out all life on Earth and that the only was to stop it was to rebuild an ancient machine that would couteract it. Soon after arriving at the Burj, Sheik Abbas informed Jack that Epper and Tank had been captured by the Chinese. Once the team had gathered, as well as being joined by some unexpteced additions, Pooh Bear's older brother Scimitar, Vulture from Saudi Arabia and Paul Robertson and Astro from America, Jack explained what he had learned from Epper's notes. To rebuild the machine, they needed to find and cleanse six oblong diamonds called Pillars, which contained special rewards, and set them in place at different vertices around the world at specific times. To this end, the use of six sacred stones in conjunction with the Firestone would help them learn all they needed along the way. Needing Epper's expertise, Jack proposed rescuing him from the high security Xintan Prison, however before they could depart, Jack was delivered Fuzzy's severed head, and a plane was set to crash into the tower, forcing Jack, Stretch and Astro to parachute to safety once they secured Epper's notes. When Alby revealed he knew some details of some of Epper's notes, Jack sent him with Zoe and Lily to meet with the twins Julius and Lachlan to work on Stonehenge, while the rest of the team went to Xintan. Hijacking the prison's transfer train, Jack and Stretch retrieved Epper and Tank before crashing the train and escaping. Jack's team then ventured to Witch Mountain to retrieve the Philosopher's Stone from Laozi's trap system, and they quickly caught up with Mao Gongli and his men, who had been having difficulty with the traps. After disabling them (with Jack pistol-whipping Mao on the nose for his treatment of Epper), they encountered the final trap guarding the Philosopher's Stone. Jack then raced against the speed-trap to retrieve the sacred stone, and successfully brought it back before he could fall into the mercury lake. Reuniting with the others at Mortimer Island, Jack met Iolanthe Compton-Jones of the House of Windsor, who had the Fourth Pillar to go with Vulture's First Pillar. After they had identified the location of the First Vertex at Abu Simbel thanks to the Stonehenge data, used the American-pocessed Killing Stone of the Maya to confirm the Pillar-laying dates, and the Philospher's Stone to cleanse the two Pillars they had, Jack led his team, accompanied by Iolanthe, to Abu Simbel to lay the Pillar. Along the way, Jack's team entered a debate regarding the Royal European Houses, which Iolanthe took no obvious offence to. Later, Iolanthe spoke privately with Jack, considering his team's loyalty, and revealed that the Second Pillar was with the elusive cannibalistic Neetha tribe. Upon reaching Abu Simbel, Jack and the team managed to locate the Vertex's entrance beneath the lake, allowing Jack, Epper and Zoe to enter. Once they located the upside-pyramid in which the Pillar had to be laid, Jack placed the Pillar, and noted that for once things had gone well for them. Ironically, it was at that moment that Iolanthe's team of Royal Marines jammed their communications and took the team members on the surface hostage. Their commander, Colin Ashmont, threatened to kill Alby when Jack initially refused to hand over the Pillar, and so Jack reluctantly sent out Epper with the Pillar. Jack noted his disappointment in Iolanthe's betrayal, right before the Vertex entrance was closed on him and Zoe. Luckily, the crocodiles in the entryway meant there was another way out, and Jack and Zoe escaped in time to save the rest of the team, who were sinking into the croc-filled lake. Epper then radioed to report that Iolanthe's group had been blindsided by suicide bombers, and was now fleeing with Lily and the Pillar. However, Sky Monster then reported that a convoy of enemy vehicles were approaching, and so Jack and the team rushed to catch up with Epper. As they did so, one of the Halicarnassus engines was hit, resulting in the plane being surrounded by enemy troops. Jack used Astro's maghook to reach the plane, and Sky Monster informed him that they only had a short time to get everyone on board. At the end of the chase, only Zoe and Alby were able to join Epper and Lily on the Halicarnassus, and Jack implored them to find the Neetha and place the second Pillar. As they reluctantly took off, Jack, Stretch and Astro were surrounded by the enemy, and Jack was knocked unconcious. When he woke up, Jack was horrified to see that he was been crucified onto a stone slab, but was unsurprised to see his father was in charge. Once Wolf explained many things, such as the Japanese Blood Brotherhood being responsible for many attempts to keep them all from completing their mission, his alliance with Mao, and his apparent insertion of Astro into his team, he then introduced Jack's half brother, Grant "Rapier" West. Wolf noted he was somewhat sorry that they couldn't have been on the same side in their mission, before allowing the Christian Ethiopian guards of the mine to slide another slab on top of Jack. Though Wolf believed him dead, and would boast of doing so to Epper's group in their confrontation, Jack actually managed to pull his artifcial arm free at the last moment, using it to brace against the incoming slab. Over several hours, Jack slowly and painfully pulled his other arm free, and used some C4 hidden in his artificial arm to break the slab apart, just as the guards were about to sacrifice Pooh Bear. Releasing the Jewish slave miners, Jack led a swift rebellion against the guards, and freed Pooh Bear before finally blacking out. Reawakening to discover their location, Pooh Bear informed Jack about Wolf handing Stretch over to the Mossad, Scimitar's betrayal, and suggested that Astro may not have been a plant as Wolf suggested. The leader of the Jewish Ethiopians then gave Jack the Stones Wolf had them digging for, the Twin Tablets of Thuthmoses, as thanks for freeing them. After returning to their old base in Kenya, Jack and Pooh Bear were surprised to find Julius and Lachlan there. The twins explained how Tank had betrayed them for the Blood Brotherhood, and that another of their agents, Switchblade, had infiltrated Wolf's team. Knowing that Switchblade would do everything he could to keep Wolf from laying the Second Pillar, Jack decided that regardless of whether Epper or Wolf ended up with the Pillar, they needed to be there to help if necessary. Once Pooh Bear left to go and find Stretch, and knowing that they could not get to Cape Town by air, Jack and the twins headed to Zanzibar to seek Sea Ranger's help. Jack's brother-in-law was all too happy to help once he learned Wolf was involved, and took them onboard the Indian Raider and managed to get into the sea surrounding Cape Town before the sea lanes were all closed off. Along the way, Jack checked the team's secret messageboard to discover that Wolf had obtained the Second Pillar, and had captured Alby. Entering the Vertex from it's second entrance, Jack, Sea Ranger and the twins found themselves behind Wolf's team. Needing help to figure out the correct way through, Jack contacted Epper's group, and with Epper's help began solving the riddles of the traps. However, Switchblade and Broadsword soon reached the inverted pyramid's peak, and Swtichblade killed his partner and was about to drop the Pillar into the chasm below. Reacting fast, Jack used Astro's maghook once again to swing out towards the suicidal fanatic, grabbing and placing the Pillar just in time. Switchblade was furious at being foiled, and proceeded to release his own safety harness, which Jack had gotten tangled in, dropping the pair of them into the chasm, leaving everyone to assume that they had both perished. The Five Greatest Warriors As they fell, Switchblade gloated that despite his failiure they would die together, however Jack wasn't finished, and he then took Switchblade's maghook and fired it into the abyss wall, stopping his fall. Rejoined by Horus, Jack then used the maghook to scale his way back up the chasm, and upon reaching the top found that everyone had already left. Fortunately, he was able to spot Alby still in the city, and reunited with him before heading back to the second entrance. After using his helmet to tap out an SOS for the Indian Raider to pick up on sonar, the pair were quickly brought aboard. Jack then informed Sea Ranger to tell Epper's group to rendezvous with them at World's End. After a tearful reunion with the team, with Zoe even sobbing in his arms, Jack then told them about Pooh Bear's mission to save Stretch, but his reluctance to help immediately disapointed Lily. However, Jack eventually changed his mind, and he and Zoe infiltrated a uranium shipment to the Dimona Nuclear Centre where Mordechai Muniz had Stretch. Setting off a small explosion as a distraction, Jack led the group in an ambulance to an old salt mine where they were surrounded by Muniz's forces. However, Jack tricked the Old Master, as he took off in another plane like the Halicarnassus to distract the Israeli's while Zoe led Pooh Bear and Stretch to safety, and allowed the plane to be destroyed once he bailed out so that Muniz would think them dead. Once the whole team was reunited at Sea Ranger's base in Zanzibar, Jack and Epper explained their trouble in locating any of the remaining Vertices and Pillars. At this point, the anthropologist Diane Cassidy, whom Epper's group had rescued from the Neetha, stepped in, and revealed a prophecy in which five figures throughout history known as the Five Greatest Warriors would affect the Machine, the Pillars and the Vertices. As Cassify explained, Moses, Jesus Christ, Genghis Khan and Napoléon Bonaparte all fit the descriptions in the prophecy, though the fifth warrior was unknown; Lachlan suggested it was Jack because of the description, but Jack rebuffed the idea. In any case, Cassidy's suggestion turned out to be quite fruitful, and the team spent the next two months undergoing research to confirm the Five Warriors' connections to the Machine. When the twins discovered that Genghis once possessed a Fabergé Egg with images of the entrances to the Vertices, kept in his long lost Arsenal, Jack led some of the team to Mongolia to locate it. However, when they arrived, some of Wolf's men had already entered the Arsenal, as had Tank and the Blood Brotherhood. When Jack and Epper discovered that Tank had already destroyed the Egg, Jack suggested they leave, right before Tank's grenade went off. As they attempted to leave, Wolf intercepted them. Noting his son's resilience, Wolf told Jack that he would instead break his spirit, and shot Epper with his crossbow. As he lay dying, Epper pleaded for Jack to finish rebuilding the Machine and not to let his death break him. As Lily and Zoe arrived, Epper said his goodbyes to them too, and let slip that Jack had once planned on proposing to Zoe. As Epper finally succumbed to his wound, Jack was distraught, and only Sky Monster reporting that Mao was about to invade the Arsenal brought him back to attention. Though wanting to take Epper's body with them, Zoe pointed out they couldn't and thought that being buried in the same tomb as Genghis Khan would have pleased him. Seeing the sarcophagus, and on it a shield with the Egg's images, Jack realised what Epper had being trying to tell him moments before. Using the Arsenal's various trebuchets, Jack was able to hold off Mao's forces long enough for the others to dig out an old escape tunnel beneath the sarcophagus. Before he followed the others, Jack took the shield, and decided to take the injured Tank along since his knowledge might prove useful. A week later, Jack questioned Tank, who refused to cooperate, but revealed that the Blood Brotherhood was supported by the Japanese government, and had blockaded the Third Vertex thanks to the Imperial Navy. Pooh Bear's team then contacted them, having recovered the final Sacred Stone, and Jack informed them of their developments. Their conference call was briefly interrupted by Vulture and Scimitar, who had taken Alby and Lois hostage. Knowing that Wolf would encounter difficulty entering the Vertex, Jack decided to watch and wait to see how his infiltration into the Vertex went. As it happened, Wolf and the CIEF did struggle to enter the Vertex, so Jack, Zoe and Lily used the Black Bee and Warblers to land on the exposed beach and help the Philosopher's Stone-carrying Rapier into the Vertex before a tsunami struck. When they survived an attack from inside the Vertex from the Japanese, and with Lily revealing she knew the answer to the Vertex's maze, Jack and Wolf agreed to an alliance to make sure that the Pillar was laid. During the course of the journey through the fire maze, Jack was threatened by Rapier that he would kill him for their father's respect. When he confronted Astro, Jack realised that Pooh Bear had been right about him being used by Wolf, and Astro revealed that he and everyone else had orders to kill him once the Pillar was laid. Once Jack retrieved the Third Pillar from a trap, he and Wolf ventured out to the inverted pyramid's peak, and as his father laid the Pillar, Jack kept a hold of him while they were under fire. When they both touched the blood-covered Pillar, both Jack Wests received a vision of someone falling down a Vertex chasm. Since Jack had saved him from falling, and believing that Jack was the one their shared vision had shown dying, Wolf decided to spare Jack and the others, though Rapier allowed a grenade to strand them within the Vertex for a time. As he tended to the abandoned Astro's wounds, Lily criticized Jack for saving his father's life even though he killed Epper, and Jack told her that killing was no easy feat. Once they emerged from the Vertex, Jack and the others were surprised to find Russian forces harrying the Japanese fleet. Once they were brought aboard a Russian chopper, one of the soldiers knocked him out cold. When Jack awoke, he found himself confronted by Carnivore, whom he had been briefed on months earlier, who revealed he had kidnapped several of Jack's allies and enemies in involved in the Machine mission. Once communications were established with Iolanthe, who had Pooh Bear's team in England, it was revealed that Cassidy was Carnivore's agent, and that Carnivore himself was a Russian royal, and thus had the Fifth Pillar. Carnivore revealed his intention to take the Pillars and their rewards, and to manipulate everyone else into completing the Machine's restoration for him. With Alby and Lois contained in formaldehyde tanks, Jack was forced to comply with Carnivore's demands. However, rather than risk having both Jack and his father actively working for him, Carnivore decided to pit Rapier against Jack in a battle to the death, with the winner being allowed to have the chance to save their friend. The reluctant Jack faced off against his more willing half-brother within Carnivore's dam, and was largely kept on the back foot in the harsh arena. Fortunately Jack prevailed, sending Rapier to get chewed up by the turbines. As Zoe and Astro were imprisoned in Carnivore's tanks, Jack pledged to Zoe that he would return for her. However Carnivore revealed that in spite of his love for her, she had apparently betrayed him by sleeping with someone else while they were apart. Taking Zoe's bowed head as confirmation, the disheartened Jack promised Carnivore that once he had completed his tasks he would rip out the Russian's heart, to Carnivore's amusement. As he, Lily and Sky Monster prepared to depart for the Fifth Vertex at Diego Garcia, Jack questioned why Carnivore was risking Lily since he needed someone to translate the Twin Tablets at the final Vertex, to which Carnivore revealed his men had taken Alexander from Ireland several months earlier. Upon arriving at Garcia, Jack was met by Iolanthe, who teasingly remarked Jack's single status, as well as the base commander General Dyer and Felix Bonaventura. The two Americans - though furious at allowing Jack and Iolanthe access to the Vertex, but ordered by the reluctant Wolf back at Carnivore's Dam - led them to the atoll's Vertex, where Jack was quickly able to surmise the workings of the trap system, and set about making his way through with Lily. Just as they were about to clear the final trap, Bonaventura foolishly used a crane to set himself and the others ahead of Jack and Lily, setting of the master trap. As both Bonaventura and Dyer were swept away into the chasm, Jack, Lily and Iolanthe were able to wait near a hidden exit as Julius and Lachlan approached their own Vertex peak at the Fourth Vertex. With no other options, Jack trusted Iolanthe to hold on to him as he placed the Pillar simultaneously with the twins, and the British royal surprised him by keeping him from being swept into the chasm below. The trio were forced to flee as the American forces turned on them, and Jack was able to eject them from a crashed F-15 so that Sky Monster could snag their parachute. Needing to get the final Pillar from the Tomb of Jesus Christ before Scimitar, Vulture and Mao, Jack collaborated with the rest of his team in England, now joined by their Irish liasion Cieran Kincaid. Thanks to their research on the Five Warriors, Jack believed he could locate the tomb. Iolanthe noted that she would have to report this to Carnivore, and Jack suggested she didn't have to, admitting his surprise at her saving him. Iolanthe admitted she was unsure of whether her loyalty to her family was worthwhile, though Jack had certainly gained hers, and offered to let him join her in bed. Jack decided not to take her up on her offer, and instead worked through the night to discover the tomb's likely location within an ancient salt mine in the Dead Sea. Jack, Iolanthe and Lily ventured into the salt mine, and waited for Vulture's group to leave with a false Pillar before approaching the tomb's entrance. Upon entering the sealed tomb, Jack elected not to look upon Jesus's perfectly preserved face, and instead took the final Pillar and resealed the tomb. Unfortunately, Vulture and Scimitar had tricked Mao into leaving with the false Pillar, and held Jack and the others at crossbow-point while demanding the Pillar. Luckily Pooh Bear and Stretch arrived and engaged their enemies, and following the bloodiest knife fight Jack had ever witnessed, Pooh Bear managed to defeat the pair. Once they eventually emerged, Jack was disheartened to find Carnivore and his forces waiting for them, and took the Pillar and Lily. Confused as to how easily the others memebers of his team were brought down, Cieran revealed himself as Carnivore's agent, and the one whom Zoe had slept with, though he had drugged her to do so. While Iolanthe suggested that they let Jack live, Carnivore decided it was too risky, and ordered Cieran to execute Jack and his team. Luckily Jack used a Warbler to disperse Cieran's gunfire, and killed the religious zealot, though Carnivore managed to escape and damage the Harlicarnassus forward landing gear. Even as he patched up his badly injured team, Jack decided he had to go after Carnivore, and revealed to the more lucid twins that he knew the final Vertex's location on Easter Island. With their help, Jack was able use a jeep to send the Halicarnassus on its final takeoff. As he appraoched the island, Jack used a sandbag dummy in a pair of Gullwings to distract the Chinese fleet around the island, while he crashed the Halicarnassus directly into the Vertex's entrance. Forcing the Halicarnassus further towards the inverted pyramid in order to overtake Wolf and Mao, Jack used his plane's turret to take down Carnivore and his soldiers. Warning Iolanthe, Cassidy and Alexander not to try anything, Jack then encouraged Lily to join him in setting the final Pillar, and together the pair completed the Machine's restoration, just as the Dark Sun entered the edge of the solar system. However, Jack realised he had made a mistake in allowing Lily to place the Pillar; overwhelmed by the Pillar's power rewards, she effortlessly killed Mao and his men, and Cassidy with mere thoughts. Jack managed to snap her out of it before she could turn on Iolanthe and Alexander, and as she passed out, Jack was confronted by his final enemy; his father. Wolf encouraged Jack to consider using the Pillar's power for himself, but despite the tempation, Jack elected not to do so. His father then made a grab for the Pillar, and knowing that no one should have the power offered by the Pillar, knocked it into the chasm. At that moment, the weakened battlement collapsed, and Jack managed to get him and Lily to safety as Wolf fell into the chasm with the Halicarnassus, their earlier shared vision was of Wolf's death, not Jack's. After retrieving Carnivore's collection of Pillars and Sacred Stones, Jack, Lily, Iolanthe and Alexander were picked up by Sea Ranger and the Indian Raider. After leaving Iolanthe and Alexander in New Zealand, Jack and Lily reunited with the rest of their team at Carnivore's lair, with the dead Russian's captives being freed. Jack assured Zoe that he had forgiven her, pledging that she always had his loyalty, and they kissed. Within the next few weeks, Jack and Sky Monster returned to Easter Island to commandeer Carnivore's abandoned plane, and brought it to Jack's new farm in the Simpson Desert, rechristening the plane the Sky Warrior for their own use. Though Jack reported to his superiors that all of the Pillars and Sacred Stones had fallen into the final Vertex, he decided that no one should have their rewards, regardless of their potential, and sealed them and the Sacred Stone within a salt mine on his farm. Five weeks after the repelling of the Dark Star, Jack and Zoe got married in a civil ceremony attended by their friends. A week later, as they watched Lily and Alby playing wile Sky Monster worked on the Sky Warrior, Zoe noted that they had never uncovered the identity of the Fifth Greatest Warrior, and suggested that it was in fact Jack. Jack in turn revealed that he had figured out it was him; having realised at the last Vertex that the Rhymes of the Warriors describing the Fifth Warrior did in fact match him. The amused Zoe noted that they'd likely never hear the end of that fact. Between The Five Greatest Warriors and The Four Legendary Kingdoms . The Four Legendary Kingdoms . Personality Jack was once ranked the 4th best soldier in the world, the only Australian on a list full of Americans. However he dislikes being a soldier, and would rather learn than kill, only doing so when he feels there are no other options. His intelligence and tenacity are his best qualities, to the the surprise of some, being able to think on his feet in unexpected and complicated situations. Jack is more often than not a calm and mild-mannered man, but when he is pushed too far, he becomes a near-merciless killing machine, his efficiency in taking out his enemies quickly making him a source of fear from those who have wronged him. Relationships Zoe Kissane Zoe and Jack met when they studied archaeology under Wizard before the events of Seven Ancient Wonders. The first sign of romance between them occurs at the end of Seven Ancient Wonders ''when Jack presents Zoe with a bouquet of roses from the Hanging Gardens. In ''Six Sacred Stones, Lily asks Zoe if she loves Jack, to which she replies "I've loved him since I first layed eyes on him, but... it's complicated". Her romantic involvement to Jack is further cemented when he "dies" at the end of Six Sacred Stones. In the Five Greatest Warriors, a dying Wizard reveals that Jack was going to ask Zoe to marry him, but she left for Ireland after the Capstone mission and Jack lost his nerve. It is revealed during The Five Greatest Warriors ''that Zoe slept with another man (Cieran), around the time that he lost his nerve to propose. Though upset by the incident, he resolves to save her regardless, and upon learning that Cieran drugged her, realises it wasn't her fault and forgives her. She and Jack had married in a civil ceremony a couple of weeks prior to the last chapter of the book. Iolanthe Compton-Jones Jack meets Iolanthe in ''The Six Sacred Stones when the Old Europe kingdoms are revealed to be in posession of one of the Sacred Stones needed in order to save the world from a coming apocolypse. Jack and Iolanthe are never romantically involved beyond a brief kiss shared in Jack's cabin aboard the Halicarnassus. The kiss takes place after Jack finds out from Carnivore that Zoe had slept with another man during her time in Ireland after the Capstone mission. Iolanthe invites Jack to her cabin after the kiss, but he does not pursue her, and they do not again mention the kiss. Trivia *Jack's call-sign, Huntsman, comes from the spider species native to Australia. *Like most of the other leading characters of Reilly's novels, Jack has a defining feature; in his case, the loss of his left arm and having it replaced by a mechanical one. *As of The Five Greatest Warriors, he is now also known as the Fifth Greatest Warrior. Category:Main Characters Category:Huntsman Characters Category:Characters Category:Leading Characters Category:Australian Characters Category:Australian Soldiers Category:Seven Ancient Wonders Category:The Six Sacred Stones Category:The Five Greatest Warriors Category:Protagonists Category:The Five Warriors